Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk
by Cardboard Edward
Summary: He was always protecting her. The problem was, he hated it. No matter how much he loved her, being one of Them was entirely a pain. Based off HeartGold and SoulSilver. Companion Fic to Lollipops & Lemonade.
1. Of Leaving & Lies

It had been sunny for a while now. Clouds were beginning to float slowly into frame, all the purest of white. She was late. Ethan smiled despite himself, swinging his feet against the side of the roof on which he sat. It was so like her to be late, even on such an important occasion. She was one to be late to her own damn birthday.

That said, he was getting annoyed, and wondered if she was just going to sit there all day long, making him wait on her. Admittedly she wasn't really late – not to meet the Professor. But he'd been told when she was supposed to be heading to Elm's house, and for that, she was late. Increasingly so. And it would get worse if she just kept sitting there, leaning against her house. Finally he signaled to his partner out of annoyance. Marill rushed up to her as planned, while he swung off the side of the house to dash up after. She was eying the blue Pokémon uncomfortably when he reached them.

He laughed, "Sorry, Tama~! Marill just started running away from me!"

He picked his friend up carefully (but quickly) by the ears, scratching behind one of them for the excellent running time.

"No… problem, Ethan" She glanced at him, twirling her hair around her finger embarrassedly. It was funny when she did that, but also sort of cute. "And I told you, don't call me that."

"Ah? Why not?" He protested teasingly, "It's cute!" It wasn't, actually. Not at all. Marill squirmed in his grasp uncomfortably; knowing as well as Ethan did that she needed to get going.

"Exactly," She frowned at him, glaring. "I'm the new, tough, badass Tamaki. No time for girly nicknames, alright?" He stared back as seriously as he could before her lips twitched and she giggled. He grinned back. If only it could stay like this… But no, she had things to do. Things that didn't, at least most of the time, involve him. _Important_ things. Holding back a sigh he reached his hand out to her, deciding it would be best to help her up and then remind her about Elm. As soon as she was off the ground realization slapped her in the face.

"Oh! Craaa… darn," She corrected quickly, and he smirked inwardly. He'd easily gotten her to believe he hated her cursing (he reinforced this with a small, scolding frown), but he hardly counted 'crap' was a cuss word regardless. "Ethan, I'm going to be in so much trouble if I don't run now—"

"Elm is, what, 30 seconds away? C'mon, I know you're desperate to get away from me, but—"

"Ethan, I'm an _hour late_." Tamaki bolted before she could see him stifle laughter.

She'd forgotten it was daylight savings time.

Ethan made sure to escape before she could realize her mistake. Teleportation was a sweet gig, even if he still had to have a Pokémon that could use it to do so. Oh well. He'd just gone to Elm's roof, knowing full well that he'd easily hear the front door of the lab open when she'd gotten her new partner. It wouldn't take long. Meanwhile, he stared at the sky. It would be the first time he and Tamaki had been away from each other for an extensive amount of time… and he hoped he wasn't the only one depressed about it. He'd been worrying about this day for a long time. Not that she wouldn't be ready – she'd been fully prepared. She was almost definitely going to succeed in what she was born to do (95.342% likely to), and yet he worried. Selfishly.

What if, after she saves what she is meant to save, she forgets about him? Or worse yet, he's never to see her again afterwards. His job would be through, after all. Over. There'd be no point for them to still talk – in fact, it would be far more likely for Arceus to decide against them meeting from that point on. It would be hazardous. Why? Ethan didn't know. Arceus just rolled that way.

After ten, fifteen minutes of thinking, he heard the door creak. He rolled off the roof silently. Tamaki was just about to head out. He smiled. She was rash when she got excited. He cut through the trees quickly, to get ahead of her. He grinned at her openly, and she blinked in surprise.

"That's your starter?" He asked lightly, dodging around her. He crouched down and stared at it.

"Yep. She's a girl. Nameless, as of yet," She sounded happy.

"Eva," He said, examining the Cyndaquil carefully.

"What?"

"She's definitely an Eva." There was a slight pause. She began replying, but as he murmured "Congrats," to the chosen partner, he couldn't hear quite what she said. He assumed it was an agreement, since she smiled at him when he looked up. He glanced her over once, smiling softly back at her.

"Hey, you're about to head out, aren't you?" She nodded at him, tilting her head slightly. "Then you better get over to your Mom's. She's still got your Pokegear, right?" For the second time that day her eyes lit up with an "oh, shit" look on her face.

"Oh snap," She gasped, "You're right! Thank you, augh, I almost forgot!" Of course she did. She was about to lose her head, today. He wondered for a moment if he [i]_should[/i]_ be worried about if she was ready… As the pessimism rolled through him, she paused.

"Ethan! Don't you dare leave before I get back here!" She stared seriously at him. He stared, falsely curious, back.

"Oh, why~?" He smiled. "You didn't think I was planning on just letting you go off all by your lonesome, right?" He froze when her eyes lit up excitedly.

"You're coming w-?" He interrupted her as quickly as possible, flawlessly.

"Elm assigned me with a project of my own. He knows how much I love traveling, so he gave me a task he thought would suit me." Ethan scratched at his head, smiling at her sheepishly. "… but what were you going to say?" Except he knew exactly what she was going to say, and exactly how she would reply. He ignored the dull throb in his chest, hating the way he felt like the Unlucky Childhood Friend in a shitty romance novel.

"Oh," She mumbled, looking away and twirling her hair again. Another throb. "Um. Nothing." Was this what hurting your best friend felt like? Hah… He'd never had to do it before. His main obligation was to keep Tamaki happy and to guide her.

"Liar."

"Gotta go," She said hurriedly, flashing an obviously fake smile towards him before bounding off to her house. He watched her go, sadly.

He felt too much for her. It was going to be the end of him, he just knew it.

Ethan teleported gently onto the skyscraper, then drew Abra back into its Pokeball.

"Gotta pack on you?" He asked the boy at his feet. He looked about ten years old, at most, but anyone who knew him knew he was far from that mentally. The boy looked at him from the corner of his eye, raising his eyebrows. "Course not…" Ethan mumbled, annoyed. He'd have to ask Dana for some, then. She usually came to flirt around this time anyway.

"Having issues?" Ben asked, keeping his eyes on the sky now. He often did that… just. Contemplated the sky. Ethan of course stared at the sky – but not like Ben. Ben focused on the sky, instead of allowing his mind to travel. He could see it when he looked at the younger boy. And yet, at the same time, he could carry on lengthy conversations. It was like he could focus all his attention on two things, equally. Ethan never could do that.

"No, leaving my best friend is the easiest damn thing I've ever done, smartass." Silence. "Sorry."

"It should be, you know. You shouldn't be having so many issues with it." Ah, yes, the way of Them. Emotions regarding love, or even anything beyond acquaintance, were stripped at "birth". ...Well, to tell the absolute truth, _all_ emotions. Regardless, everything They did was supposed to be platonic. Not even that; you were doing it for Him, so relationships were generally viewed as impossible. Relationships other than what Dana was interested in, anyway.

Ethan was widely considered a slip up in that area. Like something in his "birth" had gone wrong…

"Oh my gooosh, Ethan," A squeal sounded behind them, "I am sooo glad you're here!"

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Heyyy. You might want to read Lolipops & Lemonade for this to make sense, and vice versa. Of course you can just read the other one on its own and ignore this one, haha. Update coming next Tuesday.


	2. Of Police & Promises

Smoke wafted from his lips as he exhaled, her own moving against his ear as she whispered and giggled to him. The scent she was wearing swirled around him – some kind of spice, he guessed, maybe cinnamon. And as Ethan sat there, Ben sighing beside him, he really wished she would stop whoring over him. It was deeply annoying, and he'd only asked for a goddamned cigarette. His Pokegear saved him that moment, ringing loudly from his bag. He fumbled for it while pushing Dana away as gently as he could. She pouted. He didn't give a damn."'Ello?" He grunted, and listened blankly to the words from the other side. He sighed. Tamaki was getting herself into trouble. He smiled, just a tiny bit, and Dana narrowed her eyes. And he had about five seconds to get there and stop it.

"Seeya, Ben. Business." Ben nodded at him as he pulled out Abra's Pokeball again. Dana began to protest, but Abra knew where to go as soon as he hit the roof, and then they were gone.

And as soon as they were gone, they were there. He sucked in a deep breath, withdrew Abra with a smile at the Pokémon (he fully intended to treat it to a nice meal later), and burst through the doors dramatically. With perfect timing, it would seem. Tamaki's face went to one of shock to one of extreme withheld giggles.

"Hold on a second," He said, releasing her from the police officers grasp carefully. He took in the situation at hand quickly, thinking back to what his informant had said. Pokémon had been stolen. Check. Tamaki was heading back. Check. Officer was batshit and thought Tamaki was, obviously, the thief. Check. Perfect. "Officer, it wasn't her." He stared into his eyes, and suddenly the officer's agitation faded. Ethan could feel Tamaki boring holes into him. He spoke up again.

"Some redheaded jerk was here earlia-" She interrupted him quickly.

"Yes!" He looked at her, trying to tell her to let him do the talking, dammit, but…

"He was standing outside here earlier, then he harassed me—" _What?_ "-And then he battled with me with a _stolen grass Pokémon_!" The officer got excited and started asking questions, but no what? What what _what_? He _harassed_ her? His mind raced, as did the intense feeling to punch whoever did it in the fucking _face_. Arceus help Himself if it was planned. Rage burned within him, and he readied himself for the name of this douche bag -

"Haruhi," Tamaki said, looking at them all seriously.

Silence.

"Uh…" Elm coughed. The officer sighed angrily.

"… Tamaki, they're looking for a boy," Ethan said slowly, looking at her blankly.

"… but that's him. His.. his name's Haruhi. I saw his trainer card." She insisted, furrowing her brow together. It, like her odd hair twirling thing, was kind of funny, kind of cute. Silence again.

"…. A guy… named Haruhi?" He burst out laughing, unable to control it. He wondered if a boy with such a sissy name could take a punch. "Wow… that… that fits."

The officer sighed again, obviously tired and seeming like he'd accept it for now. He nodded slowly. "Then I have to go find this… Haruhi. Sorry about earlier." He nodded curtly at them before exiting.

Ethan looked at her now, forcing confusion and concern into his eyes instead of complete and utter anger. Of course, he really was concerned; but he was less "confused" and more "about to beat someone's face in for hurting my bff". He opened his mouth to ask something, but Elm interrupted.

"Sorry, Ethan, but I think I need to talk to her alone."

He hesitated, looking at the Professor in hidden annoyance. After a moments pause he nodded, mouthed "harassment?" to Tamaki, and cocked an eyebrow. She nodded back in her "not now" kind of way, and he rolled his eyes in return. He smiled freely now, letting his concern melt into it naturally instead of forcing it away. With that, he headed out, hands grabbing for his Pokegear again. No new calls. So Dana hadn't called him fifteen times today, like normal… Ah, well, better for him. He scratched the bag of his neck, reached for a spare cigarette he'd swiped for Dana, and went to go wait out the talk between Elm and Tamaki quietly on Route 29.

* * *

Ethan smiled at her as she walked towards him, glad that he'd been able to remove the smell of his habit by way of Pokémon.

"Took you long enough!" He laughed.

"You were waiting for me?"

"Obviously!" He settled into a grin as she laughed and moved closer.

"Yeah, well, why?"

"I," He paused dramatically, standing upright now, "Am going to teach you how to catch a Pokémon!"

"Oh teach me, mighty Pokémon master!" She replied just as dramatically, hamming up nice and good. The sheer irony caused him to smirk, but he'd quickly realized his mistake and set back up the happy-perfect-smile-mask. Hopefully she hadn't noticed.

"That I shall do!" He pointed off towards the tall grass before rushing at it, Marill and her bounding quickly behind.

It was too easy, catching the little thing. The hard part was having Marill go so easy on the poor thing that it didn't faint dead away.

"And that," Ethan smiled at her, "Is how you catch a wild Pokémon!" He pumped his fist into the air happily.

"Sweet, can I keep it?" She grinned back.

"No."

"…Well you suck," He laughed, and Eva blew out a puff of smoke.

"Here," He handed her five Pokeballs, as he was instructed. He would have anyway, though.

"…That will do," Tamaki probably had the largest purse known to all mankind. Ethan's bag was quite large as well – oh, shit, he'd left it with Ben – but damn, hers was huge. How she organized anything in there, he'd never know.

"Thought it would," He fell back into his natural grin. It seemed like he always wore it around her. And the odd thing was, it was usually genuine. That could be a problem.

They walked together for a minute, silent. It was comforting, just walking with her… Until she spoke up, with an odd tone in her voice.

"Ethan?" Tamaki asked, quietly.

"With that guy earlier today…" He narrowed his eyes. "Maybe… maybe I need a bodyguard." She nodded afterwards, as if trying to convince herself, or maybe even him. He examined her closely, resisting the temptation to immediately say yes. The knowledge that he couldn't made it even more difficult. He chuckled falsely and shook his head.

"Nah, you'll do fine. I know it. Believe in yourself!" How he wanted to go with her. He grabbed her hands, pulling her closer. He ignored the warmth of them. Their fingers interlocked, and their noses almost touched. "You're going to become a great trainer one day." He stared into her eyes, wishing he could stay like this forever. She stared back before sighing quietly and leaning further into him, pressing their foreheads together. He almost jumped out of shock, and then immediately wondered why he would.

After all, they were holding hands. How could touching foreheads be any closer than holding hands…?

"I'm scared," She whispered, and his heart ached. She seemed so… defenseless. He knew she wasn't, he knew he could handle this. But… it hurt.

"Don't be," He breathed, smiling, at least he hoped, reassuringly. Suddenly his Pokegear exploded. Or maybe it just rang. Shit. Tamaki jumped away, pulling out of their intertwine. She glanced at her Pokegear confusedly.

"That would be mine," He laughed, but was very much incredibly annoyed. He had five minutes left with his best friend ever, dammit, who would be calling him now? She shook her head and waved her hand sharply.

"It's fine. I need to get going anyways." Tamaki started to bolt, but he gripped the back of her overall strap before she could.

"Hey," He said, looking at her seriously, "Don't worry. You'll be fine. I won't allow any other outcome." He smiled, now, as genuine as possible. And damn if he wouldn't.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He held out his pinky finger and she took it gratefully. With one last smile, Ethan headed back out to the route, gripping his Pokegear angrily and spitting quiet, harsh words to his dumbass informant.

* * *

Chapters are going to be a little slowish, just a warning.


	3. Of Stress & Sleep

It wasn't long before Ethan realized, with a sudden and painful face-meet-palm, that he'd forgotten to even ask about the red haired jerk. Shit, shit, _shit_. He glanced at Abra with a thinly veiled scowl. "Sorry, bud. Violet City." The Pokémon took one last bite from its treat before teleporting effortlessly, following the request. Tamaki would be about there, if she was moving at the pace he expected. Ethan smiled at Abra apologetically before withdrawing it.

She _was_ almost in Violet City, as he'd thought. She was glancing back at Eva when he saw her, her face glowing with something like a mix of excitement and anxiety. A smile tugged at his lips. He stepped out a little more, and when she looked forward her eyes widened.

"Hey!" Tamaki called, quite obviously not expecting to see him this early into her adventure. Again. He knew he needed to stop doing this.

"Hey yourself," He said, "Forgot to ask you something."

"Shoot." She replied, blinking in confusion. He raised his eyebrows.

"Redhead, harassment… ring a bell?"

"Oh _God_, don't remind me." She growled. Her fingers twitched at her sides, like she was resisting the urge to punch somebody in the face. Ethan tried to stay as relaxed as possible as he wondered who in the world could piss her off so bad.

"What happened, anyways?" He urged carefully, casting his eyes downward so she didn't notice the irritation raging in them.

"So, like," She began quite informally, "When I was picking up Eva from Elm, I was early—yeah, I know, I'm an idiot sometimes," He smiled a little at that, remembering earlier. "This _guy_ was standing outside his lab like a creeper. I tried to talk to him, and he shoves me away. Tells me "not to mess with him". Because being nice is a crime now. So later, I'm walking back from 's house, and I see him again,"

He glanced at her face before looking down again. She was turning red at this point, which made her look like a furious kitten. Wait, no, "furious kitten" sounds fucking retarded, she just looked really angry. Ethan wondered where he'd got _that_ simile from.

"…He challenges me to a battle. I kicked his ass, by the way. He drops his trainer card - that's how I saw his name - and started freaking out and pushed me again. And then ran off." She glared at the ground now, clenching her fists. Her anger stunned him for a second; she was incredibly angry, and even though he was almost equally so, it was still… odd to watch her get so annoyed at the two meetings. It just fueled his anger a little more, though.

"I… I hate that douche." She hissed loudly, and he gazed at her for a long moment. "…Sorry."

For a second longer he just stared, before laughing loudly. And, well, falsely.

"I've never seen you that angry!" He smiled at her, "Understandably so, though." After all, he was damn annoyed too.

"He's just… awful!" She insisted, and if she were another girl perhaps she'd have stamped her foot. "Totally, completely, utterly awful. If I never see him again, it'll be too soon. Too bad he's got it out for me. I mean, he hates me as much as I hate him." That… wasn't a good thing, Ethan noted. He could easily get dangerous if he disliked her so much. His eyes narrowed for a moment before he shook his head, smiling wider.

"Jeez, that's awful. Hope he'll stay out of your hair- or, should I say, pigtails." He poked one of them in an attempt to ease the situation. It worked by way of a hesitant smile.

"…Thanks for giving me a person to rant to." They stood there for a second, just smiling at each other. He stared into her eyes as he replied.

"No problem."

"Hey, you seem to be showing up every 5 minutes recently," Tamaki said, trading her half-smile for a teasing grin , "When am I seeing you next?"

He smiled at her, realizing now how apologetic he'd had to be with people today. "Probably not for a while." He briefly hoped her visible deflation meant she'd miss him as much as he'd miss her, then regretted wishing such a sad feeling on her. Instead her countered it by hoping she wouldn't miss him near as much and that she'd have so much fun without him … She cut into his rambling thoughts with parting words.

"I should get going… got a date with the gym leader, and it's almost night time." It hit Ethan then that he had something relevant to deliver before she escaped.

"Ah!" He fumbled for the device in his pocket, "Almost forgot, came here to give you this." He dropped it into her hand casually, not even freezing when their fingers touched for the slightest second. It wasn't like he wanted to hold her hand again or anything. _Really_.

"And this is?" She examined it with a look of confusion.

"A VS recorder."

"…. And what does it do?"

Hell if he knew, he was just told to give it to her. Not like he could say that, though…

"No clue, sorry." He grinned when she laughed, tucking it away.  
"You are no help. At all," Her eyes shot to the clock. "…Uh-oh. I think the sun just set. Gotta go!" She bolted, and he stood there for a moment staring after her. _Now_ what would he do…

* * *

His entire life had revolved around her, sans a good twelve to thirteen years. Keeping her happy, teaching her lessons that would one day help her become what she was meant to be, everything. It wasn't in any way an exaggeration; when they were apart, he was doing nothing. Eating, maybe, or just watching the sky atop a building nearby. He would train with Ben during the night, whenever Tamaki slept. Usually on how to do his job better, to be quicker when he was needed. Though they did train Pokémon together, there was no real need to. Others did that most often. In fact, all of his Pokémon were trained by someone else, excluding Marill.

He was the one that only Ethan was allowed to train.

Marill was almost as important to Ethan as Tamaki, really. He scratched behind the ears of his pal absentmindedly, staring blankly at the slow sunrise that was crossing the quiet sky. Marill looked at him curiously for a second, then went back to playing with his tail.

The light was flooding in around him, oranges and yellows wrapping him in a blanket of color. The shadows cast by the buildings made everything seem surreal, contrasting so harshly with the brightening rays releasing from the sun. It was almost up completely, and if he looked farther upward the sky had already faded from violet to a dusty-tipped blue. The… _positivity _of it all made him scowl, wishing it was instead pouring rain. It would fit his mood better.

He fell backwards onto the hard roof and closed his eyes. The day would go so slow… And what would he _do_? Lie around with his thumb up his ass until she got to the daycare duo? There weren't that many people he cared to talk to. If it all came down to it, there was always Dana… He pushed that thought away immediately as his mind flashed to Tamaki. Eh… no.

Ethan had never considered any of this. He always thought, when the time came, he'd be able to just stand back and let her do what she was meant to do. He'd never even considered the raging feelings he was feeling now, tumbling over him rapidly. The overwhelming loneliness of it all was crashing on him like a tidal wave.

Shit.

He placed his hands over his face. He'd just have to sleep, for now. He'd deal with the rest of the day later.

After letting his mind fall blank, darkness enveloped him.

* * *

Welp, really sorry this one is so short, guys. Next chapter will be long to make up for it. After this we spend less time with Tamaki and more time with Ethan doing... things. You'll see.


End file.
